Fresh Fish / Key West 11

EATING DOWN HIGHWAY ONE

With Gene Morgan and his favorite traveling companion Nancy

There are lots of places in Key West where you can eat right next to the ocean. This picture shows you the busy harbor full of boats both private and charter types.

Way back there on the boardwalk is Schooner Wharf, a restaurant that looks a hundred years old, but is less than twenty. This town has changed much over the years and not too many years ago this was all commercial fishing docks. Schooner Wharf was built to look old, and even their bathrooms are funky and it is hard to believe they pass local health inspections. This place is almost always full. There is live music on the stage every day from noon on. But a really great time to be there is in the morning.

If you can get yourself down to the harbor early in the morning you will get a chance to eat breakfast unlike any you will get in parts of the country without an ocean. You can watch the charter boats taking out loads of happy would-be fishermen to catch those giant tarpon and grouper they have heard so much about. Gulls sail above, scanning for their own fishy breakfast in water below.

And, you can eat eggs benedict smothered with shrimp. (yes even for breakfast!) The potatoes are quite good, too. You don’t see any shrimp in the picture? Nancy messed up and ordered eggs benedict Florentine. She forgot to have them add the shrimp. I didn’t rub it in at all.  (Carrie's note: Haha, I bet he did...d'oh!)

Just to prove how fresh the seafood is I have included this picture of a man hauling some just caught grouper from his boat to a nearby restaurant. The mouths of the folks in the outdoor café were watering like Niagara Falls.